AYWPC wrap | Day 10

As the sun set on day 10 of the inaugural Australian Youth Water Polo Championships, the competition for the 12&U and 16&U participants has come the pointy end.

The 12&U age divisions will commence their final day of play tomorrow with national titles up for grabs, while in the 16&U age divisions the number of teams fighting for top spot reduced with medal matches almost locked in.

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The 12&U Women’s medal matches are set in stone after their round robin fixtures came to a close today.

Coming off a comprehensive 13-nil score line against Mermaids Blue, Sydney Northern Beaches centre forward Tahlia Penny was thrilled the match cemented their spot in tomorrow’s gold medal match against Mermaids Pink.

“It went well, I think we did a great job at passing but we could’ve defended a little bit better. In the end I was happy with it because we won," she said.

Scoring a swag of goals in the match, the first-time visitor to Brisbane is enjoying her time in the Queensland capital.

“I love Brisbane, it’s really fun.

“The week has been good, we have been having a lot of fun together as a group, we went out for dinner and we also went to the Welcome Party and met the Aussie Stingers,” she said.

While in the 12&U Men’s division, semi-finals will be played early tomorrow ahead of medal matches later in the day.

After securing a birth in the semi-final with a 4-1 victory over Mantas, Brisbane Barracudas player Angus Cope was satisfied with their performance but knows there is room for improvement.

“I think we played pretty well because they have a good side, but we could’ve played a bit better, although we still won which is positive.

“The message from our coach during the game was defence, we listened to the coach and only let one goal in,” he said.

Speaking on the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships and his first national tournament, Cope had nothing but praise.

“It’s very fun, nice people are running it and all the coaches are really friendly.

“It’s even better than I thought it would be, the atmosphere is aweosme and I got some new togs so that’s pretty good,” said Cope.

While in the older 16&U Men's division Mason Black from River City was glad the hard work is paying off after their 6-2 quarter final win over Drummoyne Red.

“It’s great, especially for a team ranked 13th to be in the top four and all the training we’ve done has been worth it, I couldn’t be happier.

“We went hard the whole game and may have let it slip a little bit in the fourth quarter, but we worked hard for it and won so it was great.

“I am so grateful, just to be around the boys there’s just nothing better,” he said.

To view the OVOPlay 12&U finals live stream schedule – click here.

Melville Marlins booked their spot into the 16&U women’s quarter finals earlier today with an exciting last minute 8-7 victory over ACU Cronulla Sharks.

Match winning goal scorer Megan Cranley was unaware of how much time remained in the match when she fired the ball past the goalkeeper.

“I didn’t realise there were 58 seconds to go I was just happy it went in to be honest.

“It’s such an awesome feeling to go through into a quarter final and I am so proud of everyone, I just love all the girls in this team,” she said.

Playing across both weeks of competition, Crnaley has thoroughly enjoyed her time in Brisbane.

“It has been a good place to visit, as a team we went to Southbank and to the movies which was a lot of fun,” she said.

Later in the day, Melville then went down 2-5 to UNSW Wests Killer Whales Yellowfor a spot in the semi final.

Our great friends at OVO will be live streaming all medal matches this Wednesday (12&U) and Thursday (16&U) via their FREE OVOPlay App – download it from your App store today.

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